Record Store of the Month: Reckless Records (Chica

[Guest Admin]

You might find it contradictory that I have recently decided to feature a brick and mortar record store each month. You might ask, "Aren't other record stores your competition?" To that I would say that they are no more competition for me as other record labels are to Suburban Home. I will always have a soft spot for mom and pop record stores as my introduction into the music industry began by working at Rocky Mountain Records and then later at Wax Trax. I love record stores and hope there will never be a day that people have no idea what a brick and mortar record store is.

That said, I am excited to bring you our first Record Store of the Month, Reckless Records. Dave Hofer, Reckless' Milwaukee Ave new-product buyer should be a name you have read before. Dave was our November 2008 VCCOTM, he is a member of our messsage board, and he is a big supporter of what we do at Vinyl Collective and Suburban Home. I also recently got to hang out with him and his girlfriend the last time I visited Chicago which was a highlight of my trip.

Dave was kind enough to answer my questions about vinyl sales, hording new vinyl arrivals, things that smaller indie labels can do to get his attention, some of their best selling vinyl titles, what he would like to tell people who have never walked into record stores, and more.

Please take the time to read this interview as I think it is really interesting. Dave is one of the good guys and Reckless Records has been an institution to the musical landscape of Chicago. Also be warned that we are planning some kind of cool contest involving Reckless. Stay tuned.

In the comments or on our message board, please suggest other great record stores that we should feature in future installments. Thanks Dave!

http://www.vinylcollective.com/2009/03/04/record-store-of-the-month-reckless-records-chicago/

[fueledbymike]

damn i love this place

its got some great stuff

and its huge

definatly a good pick

[xjustinxschwierx]

damn i love this place

its got some great stuff

and its huge

definatly a good pick

[rtw88]

Cool interview. You should get in touch with Charlie from Hyde and Zekes in gainesville for one of these. I've probably been to 15 or 20 stores, and it is by far my favorite.

[aarondanger]

awesome store

a Chicago must

[thestigmachine]

I've visited Chicago three times, and every time I've paid a visit to this store!

[captainmorgan]

Aaaah, Reckless. I've given them quite a bit of my money over the years.

[thedavidescapeplan]

I love Reckless. I'm making a trip from Indiana to the one on Broadway this saturday.

[xjustinxschwierx]

Aaaah, Reckless. I've given them quite a bit of my money over the years.

[xjustinxschwierx]

I love Reckless. I'm making a trip from Indiana to the one on Broadway this saturday.

LET'S HANG OUT!

what time?

[lancenelson]

Reckless is awesome! And I like the fact that you are featuring small shops like this on your site. I'm sure a lot of us on here travel often and this totally helps out.

If you get a chance you should feature Flat Black and Circular in Lansing, MI. The shop has been in the same location for probably 25 years or more and it's a great stop for all genres of music. Good prices too!

http://www.myspace.com/flatblackandcircular

[thedavidescapeplan]

I love Reckless. I'm making a trip from Indiana to the one on Broadway this saturday.

LET'S HANG OUT!

what time?

LET'S!

I'm probably going to be leaving Indiana about 1, I'm picking up a friend of mine in the city and should be there about 2 I'd imagine as long as traffic isn't terrible.

[j4m35]

aw man i want to join in the hangoutz, but im going to down to u of i on saturday for the mbd/fake problems show...i might be able to hang out for a bit

[cactusbot]

I was in Chicago this weekend and went to Reckless.

It is a must-visit every time I am in Chicago.

One of my favorite record stores.

[scottheisel]

I went to the Reckless in the Loop last Friday and was pretty underwhelmed at the selection, honestly; I just felt like I was looking at my own record collection -- not very many things that piqued my interest. Maybe I just own too many records now.

Still, Reckless is almost always on my itinerary any time I go to Chicago; I've definitely gotten plenty of sweet deals there before. (None More Black 7-inch for $2.99? Yes please!)

[thedavidescapeplan]

aw man i want to join in the hangoutz, but im going to down to u of i on saturday for the mbd/fake problems show...i might be able to hang out for a bit

If you don't I'm sure I'll be making a lot more trips to the city as the weather gets nicer.

[thedavidescapeplan]

I went to the Reckless in the Loop last Friday and was pretty underwhelmed at the selection, honestly; I just felt like I was looking at my own record collection -- not very many things that piqued my interest. Maybe I just own too many records now.

Still, Reckless is almost always on my itinerary any time I go to Chicago; I've definitely gotten plenty of sweet deals there before. (None More Black 7-inch for $2.99? Yes please!)

the one in the Loop is pretty much a joke. I go in there occassionally to see if they have a new release or something, but aside from that it's rare I ever find anything worthwhile.

[j4m35]

the one on broadway is my favorite. i'm going to try and get a job at record breakers during spring term, i want to apply to reckless but they probably have like 300 applicants a day. i've been meaning to check out permanent records.

[thedavidescapeplan]

I'm thinking about hitting up every record store I know of/can find this saturday. I should probably do more than just go to record stores, I'm not sure how much the girl that is coming with me is into records.

[davehoffa]

The Loop store is there to serve people who work downtown and don't want to stop at another location to buy stuff, mostly. We don't get a lot of crazy trades in there because it's in the Loop and there's nowhere to park.

[amsteel]

I got Outkast - Speakerboxxx/Love Below 4x there a few months ago. Then they kicked me out for crying too much because I was so excited.

Place is solid.

[desensitizedbyu]

I like the place, but they put up all the goods for auction on eBay! There was a time where almost every Desert Sessions 10" was online and it was Reckless who put it up.

[davehoffa]

Times are tough. Thing is - it's kind of hard to have a $250 dollar record just sitting there waiting for someone to buy it. We did pay someone for it, you know?

[desensitizedbyu]

What one was 250?

[melikecheese]

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